Game over for social games site Winster

Winster Inc., a collaborative social games site that catered to Baby Boomers and seniors, has announced it will shut down on May 31.

The 8-year-old San Mateo company, which said in November the average age of its 3 million registered players was 50, said in a letter posted Tuesday that it no longer had the resources to continue.

“But all good things must come to an end eventually, and Winster is no exception,” said the letter from co-founder Michelle Kaplan under the name of her company persona, Winnie Winster. “We simply can’t continue to operate the web site in its current form. The resources and effort required to run the servers, distribute prizes, and support our staff are just too much to bear.”

Winster called itself the “Club Penguin for older adults,” referring to Disney’s kid-centric online games site. Winster games include “Slot Social,” “Poker Pals” and “Spell Squad.” Players could help each other earn points redeemable for prizes.

Kaplan co-founded the company with her husband, CEO Jerry Kaplan, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded online auction site Onsale.com and pen computing company Go Corp. He was also the CEO of Egghead.com.

Many players posted comments on the company’s Facebook page saying they will miss the friendships they made on Winster.

A company spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement.